Thannhausen Castle Audio guide

Thannhausen Castle in Styria

Thannhausen Castle stands in the village of Thannhausen in Styria and is one of the region's striking aristocratic residences. Its present form is the result of a long building history that built on an older medieval settlement as well as the Renaissance rebuilding at the end of the sixteenth century.

From a medieval castle to a Renaissance residence

The site is documented as early as 1177 as Trennstein Castle, later Treunstein. In the thirteenth century, the lords of Kindberg from Treunstein are mentioned here, followed by other owners, among them the Treunstein family. In the fourteenth century the estate passed to the Stubenbergs, who managed it from Gutenberg. The present castle was built on the site of a former villa rustica, a Roman country residence, which shows the long continuity of settlement in this part of the valley.

The layout of the complex

The Renaissance building is designed as a large four winged structure with three floors, enclosing a spacious courtyard. The corners are reinforced by diamond shaped towers, and three sides of the courtyard are lined with tall ranges with arcades on pillars and columns. On the north side, a high wall closes off the complex, and defensive elements of the older castle have also survived there. From the original fortifications, only remnants of the cellar building remain.

Baroque alterations and later history

An important stage came in 1585, when, according to a building inscription, the castle was completed for Conrad, Free Lord of Thannhausen, and his wife Dorothea von Teuffenbach. After the Stubenbergs sold it in 1617 to Balthasar of Thannhausen, the residence gradually fell into ruin. After the family died out in 1686, it passed to the Khevenhuller and Wurmbrand-Stuppach families. It was the second family that, around 1720, helped bring about the Baroque alterations that turned part of the Renaissance castle into a more representative noble residence. Since 1806, the castle has belonged to the Gudenus family.